Gary Ackerman: The Jew And The Politician,Joseph Schick

In January 2001, as President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak begged Yasir Arafat to take a break from killing Jews to accept the Old City of Jerusalem, hundreds of thousands of Israelis rallied in Jerusalem to oppose the city's division. Simultaneously, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein's Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun hosted an event in solidarity.

A highlight of that event was a speech by Congressman Gary Ackerman, who told those of us in the audience: "I come here not as a politician, because this isn't about politics. I come here as a Jew, a Jew who is troubled, concerned, pained and angry."

An impassioned Ackerman said then: "Give it away. Chop it up. Parcel it out. Never! It's time to let the world know that Jerusalem will never, ever again be divided!"

For six more years, the Queens Democrat remained a strong supporter of Israel. When in 2006 Hamas won the Palestinian Authority legislative elections, Ackerman said: "U.S. foreign assistance is a gift, not a right. The Palestinian Authority, as long as it is led by Hamas, a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of dozens of Americans, is obviously disqualified from this kind of aid."

Ackerman made clear then that he had no sympathy for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, saying, "he never demanded that Hamas and the other terrorist groups disarm and disband. Now, we see that after a year of trying things Abu Mazen's way and not feeling that they got any real benefits, Palestinians have voted to go in a different direction. That was their right. But it is absolutely critical that our policy adjust to reflect their decision."

In 2006, it was "absolutely critical" for the PA to be "obviously disqualified" from American dollars. But the next year Ackerman became not just any congressman, but a real player - the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

In 2007 - with Hamas still controlling the PA legislature and by then having taken full control of Gaza - Chairman Ackerman initiated a letter in Congress demanding an increase in aid to the PA, leading to the U.S. pledging hundreds of millions of dollars.

This year, when the Obama administration announced $900 million in additional support to the PA, Ackerman was fast to "strongly endorse the Obama Administration's readiness to put America's money where our mouth is."

But Ackerman's about-face was hardly limited to aid to Palestinians. In March 2008, Ackerman blasted Israel for "settlement expansions and new housing in Jerusalem." So much for letting "the world know that Jerusalem will never, ever again be divided."

Ackerman really ramped things up following the election of President Obama. In February, he charged that the situation in the Middle East is "spiraling downward" due to "the march of settlements," the "perpetration of settler pogroms," and even "digging in Jerusalem."

When Obama decided to place settlement construction on top of his foreign policy agenda, Ackerman initially played the part of the town idiot, saying: "I have to hear specifically from the administration exactly how they define [settlement and natural growth] and is there room for defining the terms."

Somehow, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia had missed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's prior statement that "the president was very clear when Prime Minister Netanyahu was here. He wants to see a stop to settlements - not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions."

Within days Ackerman fell in line, demanding a complete "freeze of settlement construction." In case that wasn't clear enough, in a tone sounding a lot like Clinton, Ackerman elaborated: "No expansions, no how, no way, no shticks, no tricks."

That was followed by the State Department's confirmation that Obama's demand for a settlement freeze includes an end to any construction in the post-1967 Jerusalem neighborhoods. As spokesman Ian Kelly answered when asked whether the demand included Jerusalem, "We're talking about all settlement activity, yes, in the area across the [1949 armistice] line."

In other words, Obama demands an end to construction in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, Gilo, Har Homa, Ramat Eshkol, Ramot, French Hill, and Pisgat Ze'ev. And since East Talpiot and Hebrew University on Mount Scopus were no-man's land between 1949 and 1967, no construction can take place there either.

Gary Ackerman hasn't had a word to say about that.

If you're important enough for him to talk to you, Ackerman will probably recite the mantra about his commitment to Israel and its security, and about what a great friend of Israel our president really is. Ackerman may even boast about how many times he's visited Israel.

Instead of the usual tired platitudes, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia should set the record straight about the future of Jerusalem. Will he "let the world know that Jerusalem will never, ever again be divided?"

Or - as alluded to in Obama's speech in Cairo - should Jerusalem be given away, chopped up, and parceled out?

The answer - which must be presented with "no shticks" and "no tricks" - will tell you whether Gary Ackerman comes to Washington and to his congressional district in Queens and Long Island as a Jew, or as a politician.

Joseph Schick writes at www.jschick.blogspot.com. He can be contacted at josephschick@hotmail.com.

Read Comments (3)

Gary Ackerman: The Jew And The Politician , Joseph Schick

Nuthin' New Under the Sun
Date 03:07, 07-1, 09

W., 07/01/09

Those "illegal" settlements! Finally we know the truth about why Torquemada, Doctor Mengele, and Father Coughlin, y"sm, hated us. It was those darn illegal Jewish settlements. Without them, those guys would have been a bunch of pussycats.

Why the surprise?
Date 06:07, 07-1, 09

In a country in love with the TaNa"KH, the only country outside Israel to have cities, towns, and villages with names like Jerusalem, Canaan, Zion, Bethlehem, Pisgah, Zarephath, Bethel, etc., big shot "pro-Israel politicians" have historically avoided references to G-d and the Bible and justified Israel in terms of the "enlightenment" and political progressiveness. But this is no foundation on which to build support for Israel. As uncomfortable as liberal politicians might feel, the Jewish People's deed to 'Eretz Yisra'el is the Bible--that "reactionary" book with the "mythical" stories about Adam and Noach and the "outdated" Ten Commandments and sexual taboos. It was only a matter of time before the "friends of Israel" who have utterly rejected the Bible's position on these other matters would reject its position on Israel as well.

I have had to give up Xianity and become a Noachide because that is G-d's Will for all non-Jewish mankind, just as Torah observance is His Will for Kelal Yisra'el. There is only one "religious freedom" and that it the freedom to worship and obey the True G-d, the G-d of Israel. It is high time the Jewish People and their leaders dropped the anachronistic liberal ethnic identity politics and proclaim the One G-d to all people, whether they are Fundamentalist Xians, liberal agnostics, Muslims, Hindus, or any other designation. This is Israel's purpose and only in a world that acknowledges the Jewish G-d will the Jewish claim to Israel be acknowledged. The idea that the Jewish claim can be based on any secular ideology or on universal acknowledgment of the Holocaust is moonbeams.

Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!

Ackerman has been promoting "Stimulus Packages To Palestinian Terrorists" and other policies which endanger Israel for Years
Date 07:07, 07-9, 09

Great article. However, Ackerman has promoted policies which endanger Israel in Congress for many years before his recent accusations that Israelis are perpetrating pogroms on Palestinians, and his equation of digging homes in Jerusalem to digging tunnels in Gaza, and before his 2007 promotion of "stimulus packages for Palestinian terrorists." Most people just did not notice Ackerman's actions in Congress previously, because while endangering Israel with his actions and accusations in Congress, he has pretended to be pro-Israel when speaking at synagogues and fundraisers. Way before Ackerman initiated the 2007 Congressional letter to authorize sending hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to the Palestinian Authority, Ackerman initiated efforts to send our tax dollars to the Palestinian Authority repeatedly in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, when Tom Delay reduced Ackerman's demand for hundreds of millions of dollars to be sent directly to Mahmoud Abbas to $200 million of indirect aid, Ackerman blasted Tom Delay as "authoritarian" and then Ackerman said "$200 million is better than nothing." (By the way, Ackerman's 2007 letter also claimed that Mahmoud Abbas was a peace partner.) Every time the funding to the PA increases, murders of Israelis increase. Note that the PA announced that it contributes 40% of the funds it receives from international donors to Hamas. Ackerman's policies and accusations are particularly dangerous because of his position as Chairman of the MidEast Subcommittee. Ackerman also recently offered to bring GITMO terrorists to New York, and voted against the "See Something, Say Something" law which protects citizens who in good faith report suspicious terrorist activity, and stated that he personally wants to speak with Ahmadinejad to hear his side of the story. Please read more about Ackerman's deplorable true record on my website. Please ask your friends and relatives in the 5th Congressional District of New York (northeast Queens and northern Nassau County) to vote for me in 2010 if I run again, and to not vote for Ackerman in any event. Campaign volunteers welcome.

Elizabeth Berney, Esq.